They stuck to the faster tunnels, even though it meant they had to wear their masks; and they took the hand-cranked mining carts with gusto, their fretful energy making double time on the straighter stretches, carrying them through the lines of track that took them up the hill at a steeper grade. At the tunnel’s end, where the tracks all stopped and the lanterns were turned up to their brightest glow, the travelers paused briefly to let their arms rest and their backs unwind from the effort.

Then they loaded themselves back up like pack mules and struck out for the city.

Each boy allowed himself one candle stub, carried in a hurricane glass. It barely did anything except tint the darkness yellow, but it was comfort enough to keep them moving forward. Someone standing half a dozen yards away couldn’t have seen them, so little light did the candles offer—and that was the idea, but it made for slow going.

The blocks were darker than dark, blacker than night’s usual fall, because it fell on Seattle, where the air was thickly curdled and surrounded by the wall and its omnipresent shadow, resisting any interference from the moon and candles alike.

Upon reaching an unmarked corner, Rector asked, “Are we going the right way?”

Zeke checked the compass Houjin had given him. “Yep.”

“I never thought I’d say this, but I kind of wish Huey was here.”

“We’d be better off with Angeline. Not saying he’s useless or anything, ’cause he sure as hell ain’t. But this has never been his part of town. She knows her way around better.”

“I wonder where she went.”

“So do I,” Zeke admitted. “Heck, she might be waiting for us. Or listening. You never know, with her. That woman’s got ears all over the place, and it’s a good thing, too.”

“Sure is.”

“We should probably be quiet.”

“Probably,” Rector agreed.

And they were quiet, for about thirty seconds. Then Rector said, “But it’s god-awful dark. And so quiet that I can’t hear a damn thing. Does that make sense?”

“No, but I know what you mean. Hey—what’s…?”

Zeke stopped abruptly, and Rector stopped in time to keep from running into him. “What is it?”

“It’s the wall.”

“It’s the wall, or it’s a wall?”

“Can’t tell.” Zeke patted at the stones, running his candlelight up and down it. “I think it’s the wall.”

“Did we really come that far? I thought we were supposed to turn up toward the park before we hit it.”

“We were. But we didn’t.”

“You’re shit for a navigator, Zeke.”

“That’s what the captain says. And Kirby Troost. And Fang.”

“I thought Fang don’t talk.”